SolarSolstice Master Log

[Hilayla]

I know what you mean about not being able to keep them all. If I had unlimited time and resources I would keep a mare and stallion pasture for each rare breed. I've tried and they all suffer. I could freeze them on my side but I have some sort of mental block about transferring horses. LOL I just hate switching back and forth between accounts. It's a definite quandary.

As far as lines go, I'm working on a project I found for rare breeds. It was for sheep actually but I'm doing it with my Chinese Ponies. I pick a breed, pick a discipline based on the body type I want. I have several mini goals on the way to my overall goal of high-statted, discipline-bred ponies who are on a par with the TBs (someday right? ). I also want to maintain a herd large enough to keep COI below 15%. I fail miserably at this which is what got me started looking for rare breed programs used in real life. All of those get broken down into baby steps. I'm also setting a breed standard for each breed so I can judge my horses overall. It helps me clarify my goals and remember things like color and mane/tail styles that I forget.

I've made it to 200 years on my farm so I'm using this time to really evaluate everything. I'm getting rid of Tarpans and Przewalskis (phasing into Mongolians and Chinese Ponies). I can keep those lines so it's not like I'm just rehoming or selling them all. That being said, I don't know if you've already bred for Chinese Ponies, Tibetans, or Manipuris but when/if you do, I'll take your culls. I'm horrible about putting my boys up for stud but if I ever have something you can use let me know. This turned out longer than I thought. Sorry about that. I guess I'm feeling chatty today.

[EclipticEnd]

I know what you mean about not being able to keep them all. If I had unlimited time and resources I would keep a mare and stallion pasture for each rare breed. I've tried and they all suffer. I could freeze them on my side but I have some sort of mental block about transferring horses. LOL I just hate switching back and forth between accounts. It's a definite quandary.

As far as lines go, I'm working on a project I found for rare breeds. It was for sheep actually but I'm doing it with my Chinese Ponies. I pick a breed, pick a discipline based on the body type I want. I have several mini goals on the way to my overall goal of high-statted, discipline-bred ponies who are on a par with the TBs (someday right? ). I also want to maintain a herd large enough to keep COI below 15%. I fail miserably at this which is what got me started looking for rare breed programs used in real life. All of those get broken down into baby steps. I'm also setting a breed standard for each breed so I can judge my horses overall. It helps me clarify my goals and remember things like color and mane/tail styles that I forget.

I've made it to 200 years on my farm so I'm using this time to really evaluate everything. I'm getting rid of Tarpans and Przewalskis (phasing into Mongolians and Chinese Ponies). I can keep those lines so it's not like I'm just rehoming or selling them all. That being said, I don't know if you've already bred for Chinese Ponies, Tibetans, or Manipuris but when/if you do, I'll take your culls. I'm horrible about putting my boys up for stud but if I ever have something you can use let me know. This turned out longer than I thought. Sorry about that. I guess I'm feeling chatty today.

That's fine! I never thought about mirroring actual real breeding plans; that's a fascinating idea that I might look into. Also, I'm certainly willing to pass on Chinese Ponies, Tibetans, and Manipuris when I get to them!

[Hilayla]

i felt I had to look into them. Because all my breeds merge into Manipuris those pedigrees were in such a mess. I think every single horse is related to each other in some way even it's all the way back to the tarpan X prz stage. Trying to create a breed and keep COI down while working with limited numbers was kicking my booty. I needed an education so I went and started looking. I'm keeping a log about mixed in with my farm log which I might use to make a guide later, depending how things go.

[EclipticEnd]

i felt I had to look into them. Because all my breeds merge into Manipuris those pedigrees were in such a mess. I think every single horse is related to each other in some way even it's all the way back to the tarpan X prz stage. Trying to create a breed and keep COI down while working with limited numbers was kicking my booty. I needed an education so I went and started looking. I'm keeping a log about mixed in with my farm log which I might use to make a guide later, depending how things go.

Ah. Hopefully I'll be able to offer you some new blood to your group, then!

[Gabby_Woodlark]

Ping

If you ever need a partner or someone just to breed breeds with you, I'm learning more and more about every single breed every day!

I also have my own Sumba project going on.

[EclipticEnd]

Ping

If you ever need a partner or someone just to breed breeds with you, I'm learning more and more about every single breed every day!

I also have my own Sumba project going on.

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind.

[EclipticEnd]

I've found that I keep going back to Mongolians whenever I do some breeding. I'm not entirely sure why, but something about them have me revisiting the breed a lot. So... Maybe I'll do some specialty Mongolians.

I'll have to think of a discipline that I want them to specialize in, and I'll have to decide on physical aspects of the horses. The breed is normally Medium-Medium Heavy, which is Western and possibly some Driving if they're heavy enough.

I wouldn't mind doing some Western ones. That rules out High Strung as preferred temperaments. Spirited goes with Poles and Barrels, Even is Cutting and Reining, Calm is Working Ranch, and Bombproof is Western Pleasure and Western Trail. A peek into the rankings for Mongolians show Western Pleasure and Working Ranch to be popular. I wouldn't mind working with that; I'd probably be able to get away with keeping them at Bombproof.

Visually, I think I'd like to have them be Grulla. An added challenge would be getting some Tobiano and Tiger Eye into the lines and maintaining it, as well as avoiding Varnish and non-Tobiano white (thank you Tarpans but also no thank you; I'm not really a Varnish fan). Maybe some Silver would be fun, too; I'm a fan of Silver Dapples.

I think I'll probably have to get into conformations for this as well, which isn't something I've really touched and I'm not entirely sure how it works. I'm also going to have to figure out how breeding a line works; I'd prefer not to go super inbred? But when working with Tiger Eye in a breed where it's simply not found, that might be difficult. Any advice on any of this would be appreciated.

[Hilayla]

This is what I found that I've been following on my Chinese Ponies. It's based on a rescue plan for sheep, but with some slight adaptations (I'm working through this on my log) I think it will work well here, especially for those dealing with rare breeds. My biggest issue is space.

Rescue and Conservation Breeding
(or How to Grow Your Flock with Only One Ram)

[EclipticEnd]

This is what I found that I've been following on my Chinese Ponies. It's based on a rescue plan for sheep, but with some slight adaptations (I'm working through this on my log) I think it will work well here, especially for those dealing with rare breeds. My biggest issue is space.

Rescue and Conservation Breeding
(or How to Grow Your Flock with Only One Ram)

Thank you, this is already an interesting read and I've only barely started it! I'm sure it'll be a lot of help.

[EclipticEnd]

Gentle Ping

Using this log instead of my breeding one for this. Would you like this filly for working on the crummy horse quest? She's 11,291 HGP. I'm still working on it but I have two broods already and don't need another. I feel like I'm maybe making progress at least.

Edit: Also I have this filly, who is 11,147 HGP.